Photo Club

Canon has launched a program that provides free prints to consumers who want to try out the company’s Selphy ES2 compact printer. The “Try My Photo” program allows consumers to send an image file to Canon via an online uploader, then prints the image on an ES2 and sends the print to the consumer. Canon also plans to make sample prints from Pixma printer models available in the future.

Our review of the Canon PowerShot G9, successor to the G7 and flagship of Canon’s extensive compact camera range. The G9 is very much a case of evolution, not revolution, with a new 12MP sensor and bigger screen plus a few new features including the one thing missing from its predecessor, RAW shooting. The G7 received a rather mixed response at launch (suffering from a surfeit of expectation as much as anything else), so does its successor restore the ‘G’ series to its former glory? Check out the in-depth review after the link to find out…

Simon: I promise this is the last Canon review for a while!

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Popular Photography reviews the Canon PowerShot SD950 IS where they write – ‘I really had a blast shooting with this camera. Even with good lighting conditions at the beach town of Cape May, the camera’s image stabilization came in handy when shooting at longer focal lengths, as the maximum aperture at the camera’s longest focal length of 133mm (35mm equivalent) is f/5.8, just over two stops higher than the overall maximum aperture of f/2.8. Images were crisp and generally well exposed, and while the housing feels nearly as durable as a solid piece of metal, the lightweight pocket cam didn’t weigh me down. The LCD was visible even in bright sunlight and focus was fast in all situations with a negligible shutter delay after focus was established. When using the flash, shot-to-shot time was a bit sluggish, but not painfully slow. The battery never showed any signs of wearing down despite hours of shooting and review with the built-in LCD. The camera has a CIPA rating of 240 shots with the LCD on and 580 shots when you keep it off. Overall, Canon hit the mark with their SD950 IS, providing optical image stabilization, 12.1-megapixels, and overall good performance in a slim, rugged, pocket-sized package.’

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DP Review has posted their review of the Canon SD870 IS and writes – ‘Like other cameras in this range what makes the SD870 IS so appealing – aside from the high quality design and construction – is the ‘point and shoot’ reliability, which produces good, sharp, well exposed results in a wide range of shooting conditions, something you simply can’t say about a lot of competitors. We were also very impressed with the lens; a wide lens usually results in a compromise between the really useful ability to ‘zoom out’ and a degree of chromatic aberration and corner softness that can dent image quality. Our tests and experiences of real-world shooting show very little evidence of these expected shortcomings, helping the 870 IS stand out from competing wideangle ultra compact cameras.’

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CNET reviews the Canon PowerShot SX100 IS and gives it a rating of 7.3 out of 10. They write – “What the camera sacrifices in speed, however, it makes up for in photo quality. Perhaps it’s just the result of an extra few months of tweaking since the S5 shipped, but the SX100′s photo quality, especially at higher ISO sensitivity settings, clearly improves upon its siblings. At ISO 800, for example, there’s far less of a mottled look in the SX100′s shots, but with no increased loss of detail. The new lens has better distortion characteristics–less distortion and more symmetry–and photos look sharp without looking oversharpened. While there’s a bit of magenta, yellow, and purple fringing, it’s not nearly as severe in the SX100′s photos as those of the S5 (or S3). Plus, the good aspects of those models’ images–predominantly excellent exposure and color–highlight the SX100′s photos, as well.”

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DCRP reviews the Canon PowerShot G9 where they write –

“The PowerShot G9 is a solid high-end camera, though it won’t be replacing your digital SLR anytime soon. It offers a full set of features, both automatic and manual, and throws them into a well-built, expandable body. If you keep the ISO as low as possible you’ll get some nice photos out of the camera, though a D-SLR will wipe the floor with the G9 at higher sensitivities. Though I still miss the fast lens and rotating LCD of the older G-series models, I can still recommend the PowerShot G9 to anyone who wants a high-end camera without stepping up to a digital SLR.”

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Canon took aim at scrapbookers and other creative photo manipulators on Wednesday with the launch of its SELPHY ES2 compact photo printer. The ES2 includes all sorts of built-in options for dressing up ordinary photos with frames, clipart and other effects, making it ideal for someone unfamiliar with Photoshop who still wants to play with his or her images before printing them.

The ES2 gives users a choice of 16 different postcard-sized frames with birthday, holiday and seasonal themes. Nine different clipart “stamps” are also available, with 3rd-grade standbys such as stars, dolphins, and the venerable heart. Image effects allow users to soften the focus in pictures, fade or soften the edges, and add star lights.

All of the editing can be done on a 3-inch LCD using a scroll wheel for control. When finished, the ES2 can make 4 x 6 postcard-sized prints or 2 x 3 credit-card prints. Refill ink and paper are sold together as part of the Easy Photo Pack system.

Canon omitted a hard release date for the printer, but did announce that it would sell for $199.99 when it arrives.

Digital Camera Info reviews the Canon PowerShot S5 IS and recommend – ‘The Canon PowerShot S5 IS combines a few aged components with some new technology and upgrades. The 8-megapixel ultra-zoom digital camera has a 12x optical zoom lens that has made several appearances on previous S-series models. The 12x lens used to be considered long, but is now one of the shorter lenses on an ultra-zoom camera. Newer cameras have 15x and 18x lenses – and are less expensive…. The S5 is still a great hybrid digital camera. It takes excellent video with stereo audio, and its 12x optical zoom and image stabilization are functional. If only the pictures were as good. The burst mode lags at 1.5 fps, the autofocus isn’t as quick as its DSLR-like body suggests, and noise renders some images nearly unusable.’

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Great photos deserve to be admired — and not as tiny snapshots. They should be at least 13×19 inches. Pigment printers can be pricey, so check out two dye-based alternatives from Canon and Epson.

Canon PIXMA Pro9000

This new eight-ink model ($420, street), which makes borderless prints up to 13×23 inches, replaces the six-ink PIXMA i9900 and performs better with ChromaLife100 dye inks. It sets a speed record in this category, producing colorful 13×19-inch borderless prints (on Canon’s new Photo Paper Plus Semi-Gloss) in just 2 minutes, 27 seconds, and borderless 8.5×11-inch prints in a blazing 1 minute 5 seconds. Canon attributes this speed increase to the high-performance, 6144-nozzle FINE print head that’s capable of producing 2-picoliter ink droplets.

Canon Pixma Pro9000 Test Results

Image quality: Excellent for color and b&w prints on Canon Photo Paper Plus Semi-Gloss. Color accuracy: Excellent (5.6 Avg. Delta E). Color gamut: Large, with some saturated yellows and dark purple-reds outside the Adobe RGB color space (transparent blue area in graph). Max. black density: Extremely High (5.7 L). Print speed: Color: Extremely fast. 13×19-inch borderless, 2 min 27 sec; 8.5×11 borderless, 1 min 16 sec. Black-and-white (using grayscale control): Extremely slow. 8×10 bordered print, 16 min 45 sec.

Canon Pixma Pro9000 Gamut

Unlike the i9900, there’s an advanced grayscale control in the print driver that lets you produce very pleasing black-and-white prints, in a variety of tones, directly from color images. Unfortunately, b&w printing takes more than four times as long (over 16 minutes for an 8×10). The Pro9000 can print on thick matte papers, canvas, and fine-art cut sheets (up to 14×17 inches) using a second paper path. The printer has built-in wheels so it can roll forward for the required 15.7-inch clearance. Nice touch.

The printer comes with Canon’s Easy-PhotoPrint Pro software and Digital Photo Professional version 2.1. The supplied color profiles work very well with Easy-PhotoPrint Pro, producing stunning prints with high color saturation, excellent color accuracy, and decent blacks. Pure reds were on the reddish-orange side, but sky blue, dark purples, yellows, and greens were among the most accurate and saturated from any printer that we’ve tested.

Canon also includes a useful manual that details print-driver settings for a variety of papers in programs such as Adobe Photoshop. But the supplied profiles didn’t work well in Photoshop CS3, and we recommend the Easy-PhotoPrint Pro plug-in to get accurate color.

Canon claims that prints on its Photo Paper Pro and Plus will last up to 100 years in an archival photo album and up to 30 years on display. That’s longer than most silver-halide prints, but not as long as those from Canon’s PIXMA Pro9500 or Epson’s Stylus Photo 1400.

Bottom line: If you’re looking for a super-fast printer with a wide color gamut and fine-art paper compatibility, this is a great choice.

Canon Digital IXUS 60 review : Canon are moving along rapidly. Besides wanting to have a large market share in each segment of the digital imaging market, Canon are naturally also keen to hold the actual number one position, and it seems they are well on the way to achieve it all. This is only emphasised by the introductions of their new products; there seems to be an incessant flow of camera arrivals. At the moment, the cycle for consumer compact cameras is six months. The Canon Digital IXUS 60 was introduced in February 2006, just before the start of the PMA 2006 in Orlando, United States. The new Canon IXUS 60 carries on the IXUS tradition. With its attractive design, a compact format and a housing made from high-quality material, the Canon Digital IXUS seems destined to score major points for Canon once again.

Canon Digital 60 – IXUS series
The Canon Digital IXUS 60 is able to maintain a somewhat classical appearance without becoming boring. The Japanese designer must have an amazing eye for contemporary design, as virtually every single thing having to do with the IXUS name seems to guarantee success. And so, the new Canon IXUS 60 becomes the latest addition to the IXUS family. A camera with a decent resolution of 6 Megapixels, 3x optical zoom with a focal range of 35 – 105mm (equivalent of a 35mm camera), the renowned DIGIC II processor, advanced auto focus, a variety of built-in scenes, a high sensitivity setting, and many, many more handy and clever features.

Canon IXUS 60 – Camera resolution
The camera makes the step from 5 to 6 Megapixels, which is a logical upgrade considering the current “standard” resolution. For this type of camera 6 Megapixels is more than enough to erase any lingering thought of a 35mm camera, and provides the user with sufficient image quality to edit the image creatively and make, for instance, an enlargement of a crop. The 2,5 inch LCD monitor on the back of the camera is the ideal replacement for the optical viewfinder, which is still present but could really be easily replaced by a larger size LCD display. Canon have already proven with the Digital IXUS 65 camera, which was introduced at the same time as the Canon IXUS 60 and which we will soon also cover in a digital camera review, that this produces truly striking results.

Canon Digital IXUS 60 digital camera – ISO 800
In the past, we have seen the small IXUS digital camera struggle a little with capturing images indoors; especially in situations where the effective range of the internal flash wasn’t quite up to par. The Canon Digital IXUS 60 is equipped with a high sensitivity setting, which enables you to use the camera to take photos indoors without a flash. In addition, the high value of ISO 800 should also minimise camera shake; an inexpensive solution to achieve image stabilisation, which is emphasised by the quick button that is positioned on the camera.

Canon IXUS 60 – Wide-screen 16:9 mode
The Canon IXUS 60 is also equipped with a new wide-screen 16:9 mode, which enables the user to capture true wide-screen images. This seems to be a rising trend, and shows how certain manufacturers feel about the camera and its place in multimedia surroundings, which is how they like to think of the modern living room.

Canon IXUS 60 digital camera review
The Canon Digital IXUS 60 is a luxurious digital compact camera, of which the emphasis lies not solely on design and the compact size. The photo quality and powerful image processing solutions, which come in the form of a DIGIC II processor, are of significant importance for this digital camera. The first impression is pleasant, but it was in practice that we were able to form our ultimate opinion on how the Canon IXUS 60 should be judged. Just how our judgement turned out can be read in the following Canon Digital IXUS 60 digital camera review.